Benefits of doing neti

* By enhancing breathing capacity, it increases general vitality and prevents fatigue.
* It clears out blockages, for example, during a cold, asthma, thereby relieving breathing difficulties
* It cleanses the sinuses and the mucous membrane of dust and allergens, i.e. pollen.
* It regulates the nasal secretion so that the mucous membrane, important for the immune system, can move out invading particles and micro-organisms.
* It can help to give us breathing space to deal with emotional and psychological issues in our lives.

Benefits of using a neti pot when doing neti

* It is an important tool for cleansing the sinuses, increasing breathing capacity and enhancing general vitality.
* It is easy and safe to use
* It is much more pleasant to pour lukewarm than cold water into your nostrils.
* It’s ecological.
* It’s good value for money

When to use your neti pot
The best time to use it is first thing in the morning shortly after getting up.
You can also use it before going to bed to help prevent snoring and produce a deeper and more relaxing sleep.
However, you can also use it whenever you feel congested and want to breathe more easily.

Skin brushing

This second technique is another favourite of mine which I do primarily in the winter and spring. Let me explain why.
Skin brushing

* can help maintain healthy muscle tone
* stimulates the circulation and the lymphatic system, important for the immune system
* removes dead skin cells for smoother and more radiant skin
* invigorates the body through the massaging strokes of the bristles
* can be used in a cleansing programme. Excess waste moves into the solar plexus area, where the toxic fluid is drained into the intestines and excreted from the body.

What type of brush?
A brush that is good quality and made with a natural fibre. One with a long handle is great to get to those hard-to-reach areas of the back.

When?
The best time to skin brush is in the early morning, before washing and dressing, although any time is fine. For some people it’s too stimulating before bedtime. You’ll feel invigorated and refreshed each day after just five minutes’ skin brushing.

Epsom Salts Bath

This third technique is one I use regularly throughout the year. Some of the benefits include:

* it is inexpensive and easy to buy – from any chemist
* it relaxes the blood vessels and the muscles and, for ladies, it is good for period pains.
* it is a highly alkalizing mineral, so great for a detox programme
* it can help to alleviate stress
* it results in deep refreshing sleep

When?
Do this at night before going to bed. Have a relaxing bath. In morning do skin brushing to remove dead cells from the bath, then take a shower.

These techniques are simple and important first steps if you want to overcome fatigue in 2010. The important thing is to get into a rhythm. And for those of you who want to take faster steps towards fuller health I can help you with this programme.

What next? Fix a time to get the tools you need to start these techniques.
Start doing them. Feel free to post further questions or share your comments below.

The issue of being bloated and tired is one which I teach clients to solve throughout the year. And to help you enjoy the rest of the holiday season, let me share ny 5 favourite solutions from Ayurveda nutrition and yoga:

1. Leave 3-4 hours between meals so that your digestive system has time to rest.
2. Go for a short walk  or sit in the yoga pose, Vajrasana for 10-15 minutes after eating your meal.
3. Drink as little as possible while eating.  If thirsty sip on some warm water or herbal tea.  Add a slice of lemon for your tastebuds and your liver!
4. Take your time to savour each mouthful and to give your stomach time to indicate that it is full to your brain.
5. Spice up each meal to improve digestion and stop you feeling bloated and tired.  If you’re out sprinkle a generous amount of black pepper or ask for the tabasco sauce.

Use these solutions to help you feel less bloated and tired over the holiday period and in the coming New Year. I’d love to know how you get on so please share your comments below.

Do you feel bloated and tired all the time? Are you ready to deal with why you ask yourself “Why am I bloated and tired” to get your 2010 off to a dynamic start?
Sign up to receive the FREE report “5 Nutritional Keys to Vitality in Your Life“.

Cinnamon is said to originate from the cinnamon tree, a small tree mainly grown in Sri Lanka. However, the dried bark of the cassia tree is native to South India. Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices because it is mentioned in the Egyptian scrolls, sanskrit texts and the Bible.

Ayurveda Advice

In Ayurveda it is good for Kapha and Vata because it is heating. Cinnamon has the sweet, pungent and astringent tastes. It helps to promote digestion and eases flatulence and indigestion. Useful for those of a weak constituion, it can be used with chamomile for stomach upsets.

Tip: Once bought store your cinnamon sticks in the dark in an air-tight jar. The taste of cinnamon powder is stronger but its flavour fades more quickly.

Recipe Time! – Spice Tea Muffins

2 handfuls dried fruit e.g. raisins, apricots, dates, figs (soaked – overnight if possible – and cut into pieces)
125 mls non-refine olive oil
125 grs unrefine cane sugar
200 mls Rooiboish tea
300 grs spelt/kamut flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1.      Pre-heat the oven at Gas Mark 4 (350-375°F,180 – 190°C).
2.      Put individual paper muffin cases in a muffin tin.
3.      Put all the dry ingredients – flour, cinnamon, cardamom, bicarbonate of soda – (except the sugar) into one bowl and mix.
4.      Put the wet/moist ingredients – soaked dried fruit, oil, water,  – and the sugar into another bowl and mix.
5.      Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl containing the wet ingredients.
6.      Mix well. The mixture will fall easily from the spoon.
7.      Pour the mixture into the baking tin.
8.      Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. You will be able to smell the muffins when they are ready.

What’s next?

1. Go shopping for the ingredients you don’t have – organic if possible.
2. Make and start enjoying the cake and share your experiences with us.

When consumed cumin has a heating effect in the body. It is pungent and bitter in taste and is suitable for easing stomach disorders, flatulence, colic and indigestion. It also stimulates the appetite, increases digestion and absorption and is a blood purifier.

Originally it came from the Mediterranean and its seeds are often confused with those of its relative caraway. The black cumin used in Indian or Caribbean cooking is smaller and stronger in flavour and grows wild in the Himalayas.

Uses in Ayurveda

In Ayurveda cumin is typically used in a simple dish called kitcharee (see “Spice up Your Life – II) that is part of a cleansing diet. Its energy is fine for all body types.

Tip: Buy cumin seeds whole because they have more flavour and keep for longer. When you need cumin powder you can dryroast ehm and grind them into powder.

Recipe Time! – Red lentil dahl (taken from “Recipes for Autumn” booklet)

150 gr red lentils
½ litre water
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin powder
Fresh ginger, cut into fine slices
Sesame oil
Salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Wash the lentils until the water is clear.

Put them in a pot with the water and turmeric.

Bring to the boil and leave boiling for 10 to 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes add the salt, fresh ginger and the spices and a generous quantity of sesame oil.

Cover and leave to simmer for approximately 10 more minutes.

What next?

1. Go shopping for lentils and cumin – organic if possible.
2. Start enjoying the dahl soup and share your experiences with us here.

Turmeric has a heating action on the body but it also cleans the blood and stimulates the formation of new blood tissue. It is good for hyperacidity and helps heal stomach ulcers.

This root spice probably came from Indonesia and Malaysia where it has been consumed for thousands of years. Arab traders then brought it to Europe.

It is sold in powder form after being cooked and dryed. With the balancing effect it has on all, turmeric enhances digestion, especially of proteins, and increases the metabolism. Black pepper improves turmeric’s action to help it pass through the intestinal wall and thus be much easier to assimilate into the body.

Advice in Ayurveda

In Ayurveda, it has long been know that turmeric has many healing properties which include antiseptic, antibiotic and anti-inflammatory especially for arthritis and skin disorders. It is pungent and bitter in taste and can ease liver and stomach complaints and improve intestinal flora. A pinch of turmeric is also said to make it easier to digest milk.

Tip: Once you have bought turmeric it’s best to store it in the dark.

Recipe Time!

- Simple kitcharee (or rice & lentils)

(adapted from my book “Plans for dinner?”)

Serves 4 (as side dish)

100 grams basmati rice
100 grams red lentils
pinch salt
water (2x the amount of rice and lentils)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1. Wash the rice and the lentils until the water is clear (at least 4 times).
2. Put the rice, lentils, salt, turmeric and water into a pot and stir well.
3. Bring everything to the boil and keep boiling for 5 minutes.
4. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Cover, turn off the heat and leave to rest.
6. Serve with sautéed vegetables or salad for a simple meal.

What next?
1. Enjoy this dish and share your experiences with us below.

As we move towards a cooler season, ginger is an excellent spice to include in our diets. Not only is it a spice that most people enjoy in one form or another – fresh, dried, in power form, crystallised – it is also versatile. It stimulates the appetite and also provides relief for allergies and other respiratory complaints. And its heating effect on the body helps to improve circulation.

Ginger originally comes from South-East Asia but is now grown in most tropical countries. For centuries this root has been well known for its aromatic and medicinal properties, which include relief from flatulence and, when in the form of a herbal tea, relief from colds or coughs.

It works on all the tissues, enhances protein digestion and reduces the effect of uric acid after eating proteins. It aids digestion by promoting the secretion of gastric juices and eases swelling, rhematic pain and migraine headaches.

Advice in Ayurveda

Fresh ginger root is considered better for Vata and the dried root better for Kapha because the increased heat in the dried form helps to stimulate the inertia and dry the cool. Ginger has the pungent and neutral/sweet tastes and is considered good for all body types – (use very modestly for Pitta). It is useful to have handy when travelling since it provides relief from travel sickness and nausea, jet lag and general weakness.

Tip: When you are buying ginger look for a firm root that is not fibrous. Store in the fridge.

It’s Recipe Time!
Ginger & lemon tea
This is a cleansing and refreshing drink that can be drunk hot or at room temperature. It is best drunk approximately one hour before or after eating.

Juice of one lemon
3-4 cm fresh ginger root

1. Peel the ginger
2. Put it into approximately 2 litres water.
3. Boil for 15-20 minutes.
4. Add the lemon juice and serve.

What’s  next?

1. Go shopping for fresh ginger and lemons – organic if possible.
2. Start enjoying the tea and share your experiences with us below.

Let me share with you 3 reasons why.

1.Each of us needs raw foods every day, and juicing is an excellent way to make certain you receive large quantities of such raw foods, probably more than you normally would otherwise.
2.Many of us have relatively compromised intestines as a result of poor food choices over many years. This limits our bodies’ ability to absorb all the nutrients from fruits and vegetables. Juicing tends to facilitate this absorption.
3.A few glasses of fresh juice each day is a great way to increase the nutrient density of our diets. There aren’t too many people who manage to eat a pound of raw carrots a day. But anyone can squeeze in an eight-ounce glass of juice.
Fruit juicing is certainly good for you, but it has one disadvantage over vegetable juicing: fruit juice tends to increase insulin levels when consumed. Carrot or beet juice function similarly to fruit juice.

So now you’re ready to have more juice, remember the following:

Avoid store-bought juices

Processed juices bear very little resemblance to fresh juice, either nutritionally or aesthetically. Store-bought juices tend to be pasteurized, a process that involves heating the juice at very high temperatures to maximize shelf life. While pasteurization is necessary to prevent spoiling, it destroys many of the juice’s fragile vitamins.

Drink juice as fresh as possible

Juice is best drunk freshly juiced. Vegetable juice is one of the most perishable foods there is and ideally it would be best to drink all of your juice immediately. Within a half-hour is best. Juices stored in the refrigerator lose their nutritional value rather quickly. As soon as a fruit or vegetable is processed in your juicer, the natural enzymes in the juice begin to break down the other nutrients.

Go for variety

It is very important to not have the same vegetables every day. The chances are quite high that if you keep juicing the same vegetables for any significant length of time you will become allergic to them. Variety is king.

Exercise:

1. Start the day with a freshly squeezed juice or a glass of fresh almond milk for the next 3 weeks.
2. Share your comments and experiences below.

Moving to Switzerland saw a new start to my vegetarian phase. I soon took the decision to become a lacto-vegetarian, someone who eats dairy products (one fondue a year is a must, even though my mucus levels increase afterwards!) . However, most of my food is now plant-based, so closer to that of a vegan. My reasons have also changed. One of main reasons I now choose to be vegetarian is simply because of how good I feel and the amount of energy I have when I eat this way.

“I want to know if my eating habits are healthy, if I’m eating the right foods”, a client asked me recently. Since questions about healthy eating are among the most popular I get asked let me share ten pointers on how to eat healthily, quickly and easily to maintain digestive health.

1. Break the fast properly – Start the day with a balanced and filling breakfast, e.g porridge, muesli. This is important especially if you’ve got a heavy morning schedule. Slow releasing sugars are the best to sustain us between meals.

2. Munch through lunch – eat a satisfying lunch but light dinner and take a few moments to let it digest before you get up from the table. Ideally, this is your biggest meal. Rest for a few minutes after eating or go for a short walk before re-starting work.

3. Fresh is best – Use fresh, seasonal, organic, unprocessed foods as much as possible and include more lentils and beans in your diet. They contain nutrients and soluble as well as insoluble fibre, both important to balance our energy levels.

4. You’ve got to chew each mouthful thoroughly before swallowing it so you absorb the maximum amount of nutrients in your food.

5. Eat in peace – Eat at a comfortable pace and in a calm atmosphere to enhance the digestive process.

6. Drink plenty of water throughout the day but away from meals so your digestive juices remain at optimum concentration during mealtime.

7. Be wary of dairy especially if you have allergic reactions. Remember, moderation is the key!

8. Have a snack store – Stock up on healthy snacks such as unsalted and unroasted nuts and seeds, dried fruits, a variety of seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables. Be creative and make your own snacks, especially for when you’re on the move!

9. Go for wholegrain and cereals such as short grain brown rice and basmati rice, quinoa, millet, couscous.
Tip: to speed up the cooking time and digestion of brown rice, soak it overnight or for at least a couple of hours beforehand.

10. Use sweet spices – especially if you have a sweet tooth! Cinnamon and cardamom are two of my personal favourites for food and tea. Licorice is also a good option.
Tip: Keep a piece of licorice or cinnamon in your pocket to chew on!

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According to the World Health Organization we need a maximum of 10-15% protein in our daily diet. (This is, for example, the equivalent of 27 – 45 grams for a woman weighing 60 kg). This is not a large amount and most of us in the West easily take in more on a daily basis. 

And since we are able to store protein, as long as we are eating a varied whole-food diet every day, we’ll be getting enough protein, even if we decide to take it in plant form. 

In Ayurveda we are not told that we have to be vegetarian. What is important is to be conscious about what we are eating in relation to our activity or intended activity. Meat is intrinsically heavy and requires a lot of energy to digest. It is a very concentrated source of energy at all levels.

Traditional nutritional systems, like the Chinese and Ayurveda, sometimes suggest small amounts of meat as a quick way to build strength in tissues. However, questions are often raised nowadays about the quality of the meat because of how animals are kept and meat processed.

Simply put I have always found it much easier to get hold of quality plant-based protein sources. As a lacto-vegetarian, I eat dairy products occasionally but no red meat, fowl, fish or eggs. My diet consists mainly of whole-foods including nuts, seeds, pulses, grains, vegetables and fruits, all of which contain enough protein for me to cover my protein needs very well and consciously.

Moreover, a plant-based diet offers a lighter alternative to one that is meat-based. It can support those recovering from illness because less energy is used for digestion and more is left for the body to use in healing processes.

(c) 2009 Janet Gomez

About the author:  Janet Gomez, nutritional consultant, produces the “Nutri-Jyoti News”, a free bi-monthly e-newsletter for busy professionals. Feel ready to learn how to use nutritional strategies to manage your energy levels? Then sign up for her FREE e-course “5 Nutritional Keys to Vitality in your Life” at http://www.nutrijyoti.com